Clown Loach Overview, Diet, Aquarium Setup, Water Conditions, Habitat & Care, Tank Mates, Gender Differences & Breeding:
Clown Loach is from Cobitidae
family, & they are from Indonesia. They live in the isles of Sumatra &
Borneo in Indonesia. They can grow to a size of 12 inches. They live in streams
& rivers with fast moving water.
Loaches are not just kept in
aquariums but in places of Indonesia & Borneo, these beautiful looking fish
are eaten as food due to their large size of up to 1 foot. Setting up a Clown
Loach tank is not easy. Clown Loach is classified as peaceful or semi
aggressive & they can do well against other peaceful tank mates. If you are
keeping snails in aquarium, then it might be eaten up by Clown Loach.
Clown Loach has other name Toger
Botia, & it is a fresh water fish that belongs to botiid loach family. The
fish is originated from Indonesia. Clown Loach is a popular fresh water fish
available in the whole world. Clown Loach is an inexpensive fish but needs
moderate care level. Minimum aquarium size for Clown Loach is 100 gallons.
The name of Clown Loach is
because of its bright colors & stripes. It is called Clown due to its
stripes & the ability to entertain aquarists with their odd habits, for
example it can swim upside down, or play the game of death. It has the habit of
amusing family.
Clown Loach Diet:
Offer your Clown Loaches little
food more than a few times every day. Adult fish might not accept every food,
but little Clown Loaches will eat almost anything you feed them including food
tablets & vegetable flakes. You can also feed them meaty foods including
fresh, frozen & dried shrimps which can offer them proper nutrition.
Clown Loach Aquarium Setup & Water Conditions:
Clown Loach like fast moving
water in tanks. Ensure your filter is able to produce high currents which
produce movement in the water & aerate it. Clown Loach like to hide in
rocks, caves & structures inside aquarium which can help secure the fish
& provide them relaxation in their new surroundings.
Info. about max. size of the fish
varies, & some of the aquarists have Clown Loaches that are up to 30 cm
which is roughly 12 inches. Adult Clown Loach is about 6 to 8 inches in length.
It means that you need to have a tank size of about 100 gallons if you want to
keep Clown Loach happy. Also make sure you have free space for swimming as
Clown Loaches are schooling fish & love to swim in group. Clown Loach is a
moderate fish which means care level is not easy.
Clown Loach needs a temperature
range between 25 to 30 Degree Celsius, a pH level between 5 to 8, & needs
water hardness of 5 to 12 dH.
Category |
Rating |
Temperature |
78° F to 87° F |
pH |
6.5 – 7.0 |
Hardness |
soft water fish |
Max. Size |
12 inches |
Min. Aquarium Size |
100 gallons |
Diet |
Omnivore |
Care Level |
Medium |
Behavior |
Semi Aggressive |
Price |
$6 to $8 |
Clown Loach Habitat and Care:
Clown Loach is a schooling fish,
& it is very active. It needs a bigger aquarium with enough space for free
swimming. Also provide them with hiding spots where they can rest & they
need caves & other structures for hiding. They also love tubes, & hidey
holes for rest. You can make hiding places of wood or rock, & also keep
strong plants because Clown Loach like hiding under them.
Unlike other loaches that show
activeness only at night, Clown Loach like to be active at day too. Though
Clown Loach like to be more active in the early morning & at night.
Make sure you have better water
conditions if you want to keep Clown Loaches in aquarium. Clean water, aerate
it & keep it warm. Add a filter to aquarium & change water regularly.
Loaches are sensitive to ich
diseases; have a close look at them when you introduce new plants to the
aquarium. If your Loach is infected, then do not use ordinary medicines because
of its sensitivity to some of the medicines. Often hobbyists use half dose for
better results. Make sure you read medicine info. before curing Clown Loach.
Clown Loach Tank Mates:
Clown Loach are peaceful with its
own kind & other peaceful mates but they can show some aggression. They
like to live in community & form a school with other mates. You can add any
peaceful fish to Clown Loach aquarium. They have the habit of living in groups,
so it is advisable to add 4 or more loaches in a single aquarium. Make sure you
do not add bright light in aquarium because Clown Loaches hate them, & have
enough plantation & hiding spots where they can take rest.
Clown Loach Gender Differences:
You can recognize male of Clown
Loach by its tail which is larger, forming a more pointed V-tail shape, &
they show more bright colors. There are not many cases of Clown Loach breeding
in captivity so no details about their breeding habits & needs are
available.
Breeding Clown Loach:
It is difficult to breed Clown
Loaches in aquarium & it needs some levels of expertise if you want to do it
yourself. Make sure you have a mature breeding pair if you want reproduction.
The size of each fish in the Clown breeding pair must be about 6 inches in
length. This makes the process difficult. Also if you are planning to breed
clown in aquarium, then it is difficult to achieve it. The difficulty arises
for pairing the fish & determining the pristine specimens that show interest
of breeding. Once the pair wants to breed, then put them in a planted aquarium
& maintain water quality. Once the spawning is done, then remove the pair
because they can eat the fries & eggs. After hatching of the fish, the babies
raise like other fish fries. Feed them live infusoria followed by baby brine
shrimp & flakes. This is a difficult job & needs some expertise to save
the fry.
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